Pretty Girls Win
by Emma C.C.S
Summary: She had always heard beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and right then and there, she could not see past her ugliness and Lavender's feminine beauty. She guessed Ron couldn't, either.


When Lavender kissed Ron, Hermione felt dead inside. When Ron wrapped his arms (those strong-looking arms Hermione liked to look at) around Lavender's waist, Hermione decided it was time to let go of him.

Clearly Ron wanted someone beautiful and bubbly like the blond girl, and not a know-it-all, bushy haired girl like herself. It hurt to let go, though, and not because she was bitter over their newly bloomed relationship.

It hurt because she had been hearing the same things all her life about how pretty girls always got everything while smart girls like her got nothing. She had thought it was only said to encourage her to lessen her load of work and have fun and let other people accomplish the goals she set for herself. Like that time last year when Umbridge had dared to tell her to pay more attention to her hair and less to the null possibilities of having a Dark Lord attack fifteen year old students.

Only this time was real. The same old argument was there, in front of herself and the whole Gryffindor House.

The pretty girl won and Hermione was left with nothing again.

With tears threatening to show, Hermione exited the joyful common room and went into an unused classroom.

Hermione didn't know if she was crying because of Ron and Lavender or if she cried for the fact that she was not pretty enough to get the attention of the boy she liked (and she didn't even know why she liked the insensitive, immature, foolish boy), but as Ron and Lavender entered the classroom and she saw how pretty her curly hair looked and how perfectly her clothes matched her earrings, Hermione understood.

This wasn't about Ron at all.

She had always heard beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and right then and there, she could not see past her ugliness and Lavender's feminine beauty. She guessed Ron couldn't, either. And she let him go.

Not without a last _Oppugno_, of course, but she decided to forget about any possible romantic relationships with him. She wasn't beautiful enough, anyway, so what did it matter if her choice broke her heart?

* * *

><p>It was late when she finally decided to return to the Common Room with the hopes of the party being over. Thankfully it was, and only the NEWT students remained in the comfortingly warm room.<p>

Hermione had always felt at home in that place, but now she had bitter memories associated with a certain spot near the fireplace, where Ron had kissed Lavender and she had been reminded of her worthlessness.

She looked towards her studying housemates and found two girls looking at her with pity in their eyes. Hermione frowned and went up the stairs. She might be uglier than Lavenderand not pretty enough for Ron, but she didn't want to be pitied at all.

So what if genetics hadn't made her a goddess with perfect hair and lovely blue eyes? What if she hadn't the defined waist and lean arms that Lavender possessed? She was still intelligent and smart, even if people thought that wasn't enough for a witch to be.

Forcefully, she opened the door of her dorm and regretted it. Lavender and Parvati were there, giggling and talking about how Ron's kisses were sloppy but passionate; of how his strong arms were forceful but tender. Hermione didn't need to hear that, and was about to leave again when Lavender called her.

"Hermione?" the pretty girl asked carefully.

Hermione could see her hesitation and Parvati's sad but firm smile. She was going to apologize, for sure, and Hermione didn't want that, either. She wanted nothing but to be left alone to cope with what life gave her. She was strong; she didn't need to hear of fake apologies or see pity in others' eyes. She was not pretty, but that didn't mean she couldn't have a nice life.

"What?" she asked agressively, not wanting to look at Lavender but not wanting to appear weak if she left.

"I know you like him," she started with real concern in her eyes. "We all know, but... I like him too, and you didn't seem as if you were trying to be together with him and I thought..."

Lavender stopped suddenly and looked at her with a hint of jealousy.

"I'm not intelligent, like you are," she said with honesty and envy. "But I do like Ron, and this was my chance to do something before you won him over. Because between us, who would choose me when they can have a witch as smart as you?"

Hermione felt cheated.

Lavender's words rang in her ears like a reminder of what she was and what she would never be. _Smart, intelligent, witty_. All of those words only meant she was not pretty and not enough for any man.

"I don't care about you, or about him," she said with anger. "Just don't go around making a scandal where you can interrupt my studies."

She climbed into her bed, closed the curtains around it and sealed them.

Before she placed a spell to silence everything around her, Hermione heard Lavender talk again.

"Can you believe her?" she told Parvati in a hushed voice that Hermione could still hear with no difficulty. "I really want us to be okay, but if she wants to go on like this, well... I'm Ron's girlfriend now and if she's jealous that's her problem."

Hermione didn't want to hear anything else and put the charm already, letting a bitter laugh echo in the small void she created for herself.

Lavender didn't understand, and how could she, when she was the pretty girl who won?

* * *

><p><em>For The Pokémon Journey Challenge and The Battleship Challenge II (writing about something that happened during HP&amp;tHBP).<em>

_As a note about the story itself... I've always thought Hermione is a strong character who has her own insecurities as pictured in the first and third books. But I also think she tries to hard to be smart because of her lack of a feminine type beauty in the books (JK herself said Emma Watson is too pretty to be Hermione). This was born as the result of it._


End file.
